درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study aimed to compare the use of the apology speech act and other semantic formulas among Iranian EFL learners, American native speakers of English, and Iranians living in America for four years. We conducted a transcultural investigation on the use of apology strategies in the two cultures, and then assessed the effects of living in the target language context. The data were collected using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT), and then coded based on the Cohen and Olshtain’s (1981), and Istifçi (2009) classification of apology speech act. The results showed significant differences between the use of apology strategies by Iranian EFL learners and American speakers in apology verbs. Also, we found that the Iranians who had lived in America were successful in reaching the target language’s cultural norms. This improvement was mainly because of living in the target language context and learning through interaction. We also found that the act of flattery among Persian users which is a subcategory of a cultural habit called ta’arof is a strategy to amend their mistakes. The results of this study might be useful for sociolinguists, transcultural researchers, and foreign language teachers.

The aim of the present study is to investigate McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses which revolves around the relationship between John and nature with a focus on the horses. Different aspects of the novel including social, cultural, and spiritual ecology are studied. In ecocriticism, the otherness of nature is one of the main themes that signifies the gap between humanity and nature that eventually results in the destruction of the environment and nature. This study also shows how the main characters, John and Alejandra, are linked in the novel which turns the present study to an ecofeminist research. The novel mostly depicts the image of John wandering in nature and searching for his identity, to be punished. Therefore, the researcher scrutinizes the link between John, nature and Alejandra and tries to examine how the novel shows similar attitudes towards both women and nature in All the Pretty Horses.

The present study aimed to develop and validate a model of Iranian EFL teacher classroom fairness using a sequential exploratory mixed methods design (QUAL + quan). The participants consisted of two groups. The first group consisted of 250 Iranian EFL teachers who were selected through available sampling through virtual groups in social networks. The second group of participants included 150 Iranian EFL learners at the intermediate level from different private language institutes in Iran were selected through available sampling from different virtual groups in WhatsApp or Telegram. The following instruments used for data collection in the present study: A Demographic information scale and a closed-ended questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis by MAXQDA software and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis through SPSS and AMOS 24 software. Finally, the reliability of the developed model of Iranian EFL teacher classroom fairness was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. According to the results, a model of Iranian EFL teacher classroom fairness developed in four main components, including teaching fairness, evaluation fairness, classroom management fairness, and classroom communication fairness. Finally, the proposed model of Iranian EFL teacher classroom fairness found to be valid and reliable. The findings have some implications for policymakers, teacher educators, teacher education administrators, and curriculum developers

Children need to start learning English from a very young age in this fast globalizing world. The knowledge of the English language can assist in providing several opportunities for them in the future. It is also essential to know how very young children acquire a foreign language and which content and activities should be selected for their age. This study aimed to observe and describe the procedure of the language development of very young children. Researchers employed a descriptive case study design to portray and assess foreign language learning of two three-year-old twins’ grammar acquisition, vocabulary gains, and fluency in the early years of life (3-4/5). Besides the methods firmly associated with qualitative study and case studies, there were four sources of data collection: observation, audio-video recordings, and diary records. The central unit of the twins’ language development analysis was their utterances. The findings supported using a naturalistic environment where very young children could be exposed to the English language informally in everyday contexts and activities. This research can share its findings with education communities and very young children’s teachers to promote a new professional development model for fostering language development in very young learners’ classrooms, assessments, and curricula.

Interference or transfer from language learners’ first language (L1) is one of the significant variables that contributes to the complexity of SLA process and usually persists intensely at the initial stages of L2 acquisition and development. Drawing upon Meriläinen’s (2010) taxonomy of lexical transfer errors, the present study intended to explore Iranian EFL learners’ lexical transfer error caused by word form, word meaning, and word use. To this aim, a corpus of 189 compositions written by 89 male and 100 female students was investigated. The results revealed that females in general had more lexical transfer errors than males, and that a large amount of the errors stemmed from word use (54%) which was followed by word form (36%) and lastly word meaning (10%). The findings of the study suggest that shifting the students’ attention from vocabulary size to vocabulary depth and exposing them to a large number of authentic collocations and prefabricated patterns are advisable activities that might counteract negative lexical transfer.

In a world that is becoming increasingly digitized, the ubiquitous technology has revolutionized every aspect of our lives, and education is no exception. Smartphones, in particular, have opened up a new horizon for language learning, transforming conventional instruction into a dynamic, interactive, and genuinely innovative digital experience. This widespread usage of mobile devices has contributed to the development of several mobile apps for English language learning. In this light, uTalk distinguishes itself from other language learning applications as it offers remarkable benefits for expanding learners' vocabulary, and this study will offer a critical review of this app by spotlighting its pluses and minuses for various language learners. The uTalk application incorporates the element of gamification, which makes the learning of vocabulary more interesting and engaging for learners. The review rightly unravels that uTalk's diversity of vocabulary categories, constructed pronunciation technology features, gamification activities, and straightforward teaching methodology render it an outstanding learning resource for both learners and teachers as a valuable supplementary learning and teaching tool. Notwithstanding its flaws (that is, having the same template-based protocol for all languages), with its innovative approach to language learning, uTalk has the potential to revolutionize how we learn and communicate with each other. This review article serves as a guide that can assist educators in leveraging the power of technology to create engaging and interactive learning environments for their students, and it can unravel new horizons for teachers and curriculum developers to introduce the app as an additional resource for their students.

The coronavirus pandemic affected education enormously, and despite numerous previous efforts to achieve digitalization, virtual teaching revealed deficiencies in both the EFL teachers’ digital competence and in the peripheral use of Information and communication technologies (ICTs). This study focused on a sample group to analyze the relationship between the implementation of this model and the pre-pandemic digital approach in order to identify deficiencies that need to be strengthened to achieve increasingly effective integration of blended learning. A questionnaire was used to collect data from participating teachers in the areas of school digital strategy, digital competence, and teaching practice in blended learning. The data were analyzed through structural equation models, verifying the relation between variables and also according to specific training on ICTs. An active but insufficient effort on the part of the participants’ schools to promote digitalization was revealed. The implementation of blended learning has been favored more by the responsiveness of participating EFL teachers than by the provision of specific training on the part of schools, which lacked common guidelines from the public administration. These EFL teachers can respond to changes, but the schools’ support is essential for the successful implementation of blended learning, updating the approach of the digital strategy adopted so far.

With the global spread of English as the lingua franca for academic publishing, non-native researchers and university students are constantly facing linguistic barriers including insufficient vocabulary knowledge in writing for publication. This persistent need motivated the development of a good number of corpus-based word lists for frequently used academic and technical words in research articles across disciplines. Nevertheless, despite its importance in corpus-based study of language for word list development, replication research has received far less attention in this line of inquiry. The current study aimed to address this gap and replicated two published studies that investigated the use of academic vocabulary in applied linguistics research articles. To this end, research articles published from 2010 to 2020 in 20 well-known journals in the field were collected, and a corpus with around 48 million words was compiled and analyzed. The findings indicated that academic vocabulary accounted for 11.46% of the corpus, which is similar and close to the reported coverage of the AWL in replicated studies. However, regarding the frequently occurring academic and non-academic content words, the findings showed considerable variation with respect to the results reported earlier. In light of these findings, the study highlighted the importance of replication research to test the reliability of corpus-based vocabulary studies that developed field-specific academic word lists. Finally, the study developed an updated version for applied linguistics academic word list, that might be regarded as a resource and guide for the vocabulary learning component of the relevant EAP programs in the field.

The advent of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, represented by ChatGPT, has ushered in new possibilities in the realm of language learning and teaching. This pre-application pedagogic position study delves into the potential benefits and associated challenges of employing ChatGPT as a potent pedagogical instrument for the acquisition of legal vocabulary. The proposed pedagogy is based on the authors’ primary experiences with the use of ChatGPT for their personal and pedagogical purposes and an unsystematic application of the pedagogy in EAP classes for undergraduate students at a law school of a university in Bangladesh. Our pre-application proposed innovative ChatGPT-mediated approach to vocabulary instruction is theoretically grounded in constructivism in language teaching and (web) technology in constructivist language pedagogy. The proposed pedagogy utilizes online newspapers with legal terminology, creating an interactive learning environment that encourages active participation and covers pronunciation, meaning, and spelling. It leverages primary language word definitions, refines pronunciation, fosters bilingual comprehension, and enhances spelling proficiency, offering a comprehensive learning experience. However, the study also predicts that the implementation of ChatGPT-based language instruction may involve challenges related to educator proficiency, student participation, resource limitations, and technology requirements. This study not only underscores the value of ChatGPT in language education but also paves the way for future research and innovation in the field. 

This study aimed at examining the effects of the feedback types designed based on the regulatory focus theory (i.e., prevention vs. promotion) and reference of comparison (i.e., normative vs. self-referential) on achievement emotions and achievement goals. One hundred intermediate English language learners were assigned to four experimental groups, promotion, prevention, self-referential, normative, and one control group (N= 20 for each). The participants in the experimental groups received feedback based on their assignment for 16 sessions, and their achievement emotions and achievement goals were assessed before and after the intervention. ANCOVA analyses revealed that significant differences existed between the four experimental groups and the control group regarding achievement emotions and achievement goals. Self-referential feedback and promotion feedback increased positive emotions and led students to mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance goal adoption, while normative feedback and prevention feedback increased negative emotions. Furthermore, normative feedback positively affected performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Prevention-focused feedback had a positive effect on mastery-avoidance goals. The researchers recommended that teachers use feedback emphasizing learners’ growth and improvement as a means for progress check.